America’s Top Online Colleges 2025

By Newsweek Rankings

Online learning continues to expand in the United States as colleges and other education providers seek to attract students who live outside the immediate area and working adults drawn to the flexibility of online classes. Studies suggest online learning has yet to reach its peak and is expected to grow in coming years.

For those looking to further their knowledge—from individual non-degree courses for the curious or for professional development to a full academic degree—online schools offer customized opportunities to people in all stages of life. With so many choices and no physical location to visit, finding the right program can be challenging.

To help you find the best fit for your goals, Newsweek and global data research firm Statista are proud to present America's Top Online Learning Schools 2025.

Our listing ranks the top 250 colleges that offer online undergraduate and graduate programs, including those such as New York University, University of Cincinnati and San José State University. We've also honored the top 100 online learning providers —institutions other than universities that provide access to their own or third-party online courses, like Aceable Agent, NASM and WebCE.

The research is based on an online survey of over 10,000 individuals in the U.S. who have used online courses to obtain an academic degree or acquire knowledge and skills for their job or hobbies. Schools are ranked based on organization, support, price, reputation, success, recommendation, practical relevance and overall satisfaction.

We hope this guide provides a valuable starting point for those seeking to enhance their knowledge, education or career.

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America’s Top Online Colleges 2025

Rank

Legal Name

Brand Name

Award

City

State

1California State University, Dominguez HillsCalifornia State University, Dominguez Hills★★★★★CarsonCalifornia2James Madison UniversityJames Madison University★★★★★HarrisonburgVirginia3Westmoreland County Community CollegeWestmoreland County Community College★★★★★YoungwoodPennsylvania4University of North Carolina at GreensboroUNC Greensboro★★★★★GreensboroNorth Carolina5Berklee College of MusicBerklee Online★★★★★BostonMassachusetts6UMA Education, Inc.Ultimate Medical Academy★★★★★ClearwaterFlorida7Oakland Community CollegeOakland Community College★★★★★Auburn HillsMichigan8California State University - Los AngelesCal State LA★★★★★Los AngelesCalifornia9University of California, IrvineUC Irvine★★★★★IrvineCalifornia10Hinds Community CollegeHinds Community College★★★★★RaymondMississippi11New York UniversityNew York University★★★★★New York CityNew York12The University of MississippiOle Miss Online★★★★★UniversityMississippi13Indiana State UniversityIndiana State University★★★★★Terre HauteIndiana14Cornell University - eCornelleCornell★★★★★IthacaNew York15York UniversityYork University Online★★★★★YorkNebraska16Yale UniversityYale Online★★★★★New HavenConnecticut17The University of KansasThe University of Kansas★★★★★LawrenceKansas18The University of California - San DiegoUC San Diego Online★★★★★La JollaCalifornia19Oklahoma State UniversityOklahoma State University★★★★★StillwaterOklahoma20DePaul UniversityDePaul University★★★★★ChicagoIllinois21The Ohio State UniversityOhio State Online★★★★★ColumbusOhio22Berkeley CollegeBerkeley College Online®★★★★★Little FallsNew Jersey23Baker CollegeBakerOnline★★★★★OwossoMichigan24The University of AlabamaUA Online★★★★★TuscaloosaAlabama25California Aeronautical UniversityCalifornia Aeronautical University★★★★★BakersfieldCalifornia26Florida Institute of TechnologyFlorida Tech★★★★★MelbourneFlorida27Stanford UniversityStanford Online★★★★★StanfordCalifornia28Waubonsee Community CollegeWaubonsee Community College★★★★★Sugar GroveIllinois29University of VirginiaUniversity of Virginia★★★★★CharlottesvilleVirginia30Community Colleges of SpokaneCommunity Colleges of Spokane (CCS)★★★★★SpokaneWashington31Good Samaritan CollegeGood Samaritan College of Nursing and Health Science★★★★★CincinnatiOhio32Bakersfield CollegeBakersfield College★★★★★BakersfieldCalifornia33Harvard UniversityHarvard Online★★★★★CambridgeMassachusetts34University of South FloridaUniversity of South Florida★★★★★TampaFlorida35College of Central FloridaCollege of Central Florida★★★★★OcalaFlorida36Bellevue UniversityBellevue University★★★★★BellevueNebraska37Milwaukee Area Technical CollegeMilwaukee Area Technical College (MATC)★★★★★MilwaukeeWisconsin38The University of Tennessee, KnoxvilleVOLS Online★★★★★KnoxvilleTennessee39Columbia UniversityColumbia Online★★★★★New York CityNew York40Cornerstone UniversityCornerstone University★★★★★Grand RapidsMichigan41Monroe Community College (MCC)Monroe Community College★★★★★RochesterNew York42San Jacinto CollegeSan Jacinto College★★★★★PasadenaTexas43Greenville Technical CollegeGreenville Technical College★★★★★GreenvilleSouth Carolina44Community College of VermontCommunity College of Vermont★★★★★MontpelierVermont45Columbia Southern UniversityColumbia Southern University (CSU)★★★★★Orange BeachAlabama46University of Massachusetts AmherstUMass Online★★★★★AmherstMassachusetts47Central New Mexico Community CollegeCentral New Mexico Community College★★★★★AlbuquerqueNew Mexico48University of Illinois ChicagoUIC Online★★★★★ChicagoIllinois49University of PennsylvaniaPenn Online Learning Initiative (OLI)★★★★★PhiladelphiaPennsylvania50Rio Hondo CollegeRio Hondo Community College★★★★★WhittierCalifornia

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LICENSING

If your facility is listed in the America's Top Online Colleges ranking, click here to learn more about the licensing options.

If your facility is listed in the America's Top Online Learning Providers ranking, click here to learn more about the licensing options.

METHODOLOGY

For the fourth time, Newsweek and Statista are awarding institutions that offer online learning courses or online college/university degrees to adult learners in two top lists:

• America's Top Online Colleges (colleges and universities that offer online degree programs to learners who want to obtain an academic degree, including hybrid programs with online and offline courses or exams)

• America's Top Online Learning Providers (institutions other than a university or college and platforms that provide access to their own or third-party online courses)

The rankings are based on an online survey among U.S. residents who have used online learning service offers to obtain an academic degree or acquire knowledge and skills for their job (professional development) or hobbies (personal development) via online courses.

Between June 3, 2024, and August 7, 2024, Statista surveyed more than 10,000 individuals in the United States. Survey respondents indicated which institutions they used to obtain an online degree or where they attended an online course. In the next step, respondents shared their experiences by rating the institutions regarding several criteria. Finally, respondents could indicate how satisfied they were with the organization and to what extent they would recommend it to others.

User reviews and additional institutional indicators were transformed into score values and aggregated towards a final score. To receive an award, institutions needed an above-average total score value. The awarded institutions received either five stars if their final score value is above the median score of all awarded institutions or four stars if their score is below this threshold.

The top lists were created through an elaborate process: Participants' responses as well as the final selection of institutions in each list, were carefully reviewed. Statista makes no statement about the quality of education institutions or learning providers that are not included in the lists, and their reputation is not disputed.

For the full methodology, download this file.

Disclaimer

The selection of the institutions and the definition of the evaluation criteria were based on independent journalistic criteria of Newsweek and Statista. The evaluation was carried out by the statistics and market research company Statista. Newsweek and Statista make no claim to the completeness of the institutions examined.

The ranking only includes institutions that qualify according to the criteria described in this document. A position in the ranking is a positive recognition based on an extensive survey. Furthermore, events following September 27, 2024, were not a subject of this list. As such, the results of this ranking should not be used as the sole source of information for future deliberations. The information provided in this ranking should be considered in conjunction with other available information.

The quality of institutions that are not included in the ranking is not disputed.

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